Fangio, Brooks team up for wrinkle that wrecks Saints

NEW ORLEANS – The scheme came from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the execution was provided by outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks and the combination led to the game-turning play in the 49ers’ 31-21 victory over the Saints on Sunday.

With the Saints leading 14-7 and driving late in the second quarter, Fangio called for Brooks to do something he’d never done this season: drop into coverage on a long-yardage situation instead of rushing the quarterback.

Call it the wrinkle that wrecked the Saints.

On 2nd-and-10 from New Orleans’ 44-yard line, Drew Brees targeted Pro Bowl tight Jimmy Graham and – surprise – found Brooks in coverage instead of in his face. Brooks took the resulting interception 50 yards into the end zone to tie the game and swing the momentum.

“It’s something we’ve never done before, this is the first time we’ve done that,” Fangio said. “So it may have fooled (Brees) a little bit. We do some different things with Ahmad – we move him around – but we have never dropped him back in coverage like that before. They had a route cooked up for the coverage, Ahmad ended up being right underneath it and plucked it. A game changer.”

Indeed, while the pregame focus centered around 49ers quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith — to the point that Jim Harbaugh moaned the rest of his team was being overlooked — the biggest plays in Sunday’s win were provided by the defense whose performance couldn’t be ignored.

In addition to Brooks’ interception, safety Donte Whitner returned a pick 42 yards to give San Francisco a 28-14 third-quarter lead and the 49ers collected five sacks against a team that had surrendered 16 in their first 10 games. The Saints had scored fewer than 22 points once in their previous 18 games.

Fangio, Brooks team up for wrinkle that wrecks Saints

Donte Whitner dives into the end zone to cap a 42-yard interception return. (AP)

Brooks, who is often overshadowed by his fellow linebackers, All-Pros Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman and NFL sack leader Aldon Smith (1.5 sacks), played a starring role. He also had 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits.

“With the guys we have, you never really know which player is going to make the plays to make the difference in the game,” Brooks said. “This week it was me and Donte Whitner who made the big plays for our defense.”

Whitner’s big play came with an assist from fellow safety Dashon Goldson

With the 49ers leading 21-14 in the third quarter, Goldson violently upended Saints wide receiver Marques Colston a deep pass over the middle. The throw bounded off Colston’s hands and into the arms of Whitner, who delivered a two-touchdown lead.

“I really didn’t even know what happened,” Goldson said. “I was confused until I saw ‘Whit’ with the ball.”

For his part, Fangio joked about Whither’s ability to haul in the deflection. Whitner, who initially bobbled the ball, termed his hands “terrible” after he dropped a potential pick-six in a Week 3 loss at Minnesota.

“Somebody had to take the steam off the ball for him,” Fangio said. “He caught a tip. He didn’t have to catch a thrown ball.”

Said Whitner: “Vic likes to say stuff like that. Even in the meeting room. But he’s right. I’ve dropped two or three of them this season that had a little steam on them.”

Speaking of footballs with steam on them, the rocket-armed Kaepernick (16 of 25, 231 yards, TD, INT) authored a clutch 16-play, 85-yard fourth-quarter field-goal drive after the Saints trimmed the deficit to 28-21.

With the raucous Superdome crowd in full throat, Kaepernick coolly converted two third downs on the march, most memorably a 25-yard laser over the middle to tight end Delanie Walker on 3rd-and-11 from San Francisco’s 35. Earlier, the fleet-footed Kaepernick, who wasn’t sacked despite being constantly pressured, gave the 49ers a 7-0 first-quarter lead when he loped around left end after faking to Kendall Hunter on a read option.

After the game, though, it was Brooks’ wheels that many players were talking about.

Brooks, who is listed at 259 pounds, sprinted untouched down the right sideline on the play that changed the game and evoked memories of his college days: Brooks returned two kickoffs for 55 yards at Virginia.

“Ahmad, he’s a freak of nature, man,” Whitner said. “He’s 273, 274 pounds and can move like that? … That’s the type of guys that we have on this defense.”